Mass Effect: Bring Down the Sky
by MelasZepheos
Summary: The adventure continues for Maia Shepard and her crew in Bring Down the Sky! A novelisation written in real time as I play the games.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:-** Can anyone remember when I used to write Mass Effect fanfic? I certainly can't.

**Chapter One: Incident on Asteroid X57**

Three months.

Joker didn't complain. Or at least he liked to think that he didn't complain. Sure he would bellyache about something stupid like the chairs or the bad meals or the way Wrex smelled after a particularly intense workout. But he didn't complain about the real stuff. The important stuff. Ever since he had been in pilot training he had kept his face straight, his nose down and done the best and the hardest that he could.

But three months.

Saren was dead, yes. Sovereign was in bits being examined by the Council and the best scientists in the galaxy. The geth had retreated to the Perseus Veil. And the Normandy had gone back out there.

For three. Whole. Months.

As he brought the nav charts up again and crossed off yet another square on their search grid Joker couldn't help but grimace at how much was still blank. Shepard had been driven on this pursuit. Absolutely determined to find some other sign of Saren or Sovereign or the Reapers. They had spent more time digging through old Prothean ruins than most historians, and while that might have put Liara back in her element at last the rest of the crew were getting antsy. The last real firefight had been a particularly hairy encounter out on Mavigon. Joker still wasn't exactly sure what Shepard had been doing helping out a crime boss, but she had been convinced that Helena Blake wasn't a threat anymore.

He sighed and rested his head in his hands for a moment, rubbing his eyes. He had been staring at the screens too long.

He heard boots behind him and straightened just as Ashley came into the cockpit, holding a cup of something that smelled bitter and strong and wearing her civilian clothes. "Thought you could use this," she said as she handed him the caf.

He accepted it gratefully and managed to avoid wincing too badly as it went down his throat. It was supposed to be coffee, but everyone he knew called it 'caf,' because it was little more than caffeine and water. He actually had a supply of real coffee tucked away in his locker, but not even Ashley knew about that one. She moved to sit on the arm of the chair next to him, setting her own mug on the console. "So what's up?" He asked, swivelling slightly in his chair.

"Just thought you could use a break. Everyone else is taking one. Even our illustrious leader is tucked away in her cabin right now."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah." Ashley grinned. "She's educating Liara on earth customs again."

"Ah." A smile tugged the corners of his mouth. It was impossible for him to be serious around Ashley. They knew each other far too well. Three months together and not a second of it wasted as far as he was concerned. Sure a little shore leave would have been nice but hey.

He didn't complain.

* * *

"This is my favourite part," Liara whispered, curling a little closer to Shepard on the bed. They were propped up on every pillow and cushion Shepard had been able to scrounge from the ship, but there still only just enough room for one, which meant Liara had to rest across her chest.

Not that either of them minded.

On the computer screen in front of them Mulan had just been knocked to the ground and the drums were beginning. It was Shepard's favourite part as well, but it was so much better to be watching it with Liara so close she could feel the heat of her body and smell the faintest hint of strawberries in the air. Three months had given them enough time to discover a shared love of Disney films. The night before they had watched Red Riding Hood, and she was planning that tomorrow they could watch Incredibles 4. It had become a bit of a ritual for them. After they had finished their work for the day, before they settled in to sleep, they watched one of the hundreds of films.

Liara had also been introducing Shepard to asari culture, although sometimes she still felt like an ignorant monkey when she was trying to understand some of the more philosophical works. When you had an extra nine hundred years to think about things you tended to get pretty deep into the concepts of life and the meaning of things. Shepard wasn't exactly a slouch in that department, every officer training college included a mandatory course on philosophy after all, but most of that was focused on the philosophy of war. The asari books could get incredibly detailed, although she had been about halfway through Matriach Auteria's 'The Philosophy of Things' before Liara had finally admitted it was a satirical piece and not serious.

It surprised Shepard how alike they were once they got past the surface differences. The same things made them laugh, they enjoyed similar books. The same terrible Justicar action flicks were a great background to spirited kissing for them. And of course there was what came after the kissing…

Shepard had no real frame of reference of course. One or two ill-advised hook ups with the daughter of the school dean back on Mindoir and a few drunken one night stands were hardly the basis for sexual experience. It had always been nice, sure, but with Liara it was something entirely different; when they were done she was usually unable to even move. Her subconscious went chasing that particular set of memories while her conscious mind wrapped an arm tighter around Liara's shoulders. Mulan was one of her favourites, and she needed to unwind. Maybe three moths was a little long to be out on the border. She should put them in for shore leave at some point soon. It wasn't like anything had happened in all that time that had absolutely required them to be there.

* * *

Joker was almost distracted by the incredibly sexy marine who was kissing him very passionately against the bulkhead. He was actually more sitting on the arm of a chair and wasn't likely to be moving much, but she was more than making up for his lack of movement with her writhing. She was just guiding his hands up underneath her shirt when the message light started blinking on his console. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that it was flagged as a mauve alert. He pushed Ashley back a little, but she pressed closer, grinding her hips against him, "just leave it."

"I can't," he pushed her away more insistently and she backed off, giving him a pout as she went. "Sorry." He crawled back into his chair, adjusting his trousers. "This is the Normandy responding to the mauve alert in the Asgard system please advise."

He listened in mounting fear as the details came through. Ashley was sobering quickly as well. "I'll get Shepard," she said, and sprinted from the cockpit.

Joker punched the course in anyway. He knew his commander by now. They were going to Asteroid X-57, that much was certain.

* * *

A transmission came over the radio as they piled into the Mako, Shepard stepping aside to listen in. The signal was weak and there was static on the line but the fear in the woman's voice was unmistakable. "Hello? I heard your transmission," they had been sending out a general response since they arrived in system. "Can you hear me?" Static again. "Haven't found me yet but I can't talk long. Shut down the fusion torches… going to die… god I hope you're hearing this…"

The transmission faded to nothingness. Shepard switched frequencies. "Joker, what do you have on the fusion torches?"

"We need to turn them off, just like she said. This asteroid is going to plunge into the planet Shepard."

"Possible damage?"

"We're talking extinction level. The computers on the Normandy aren't really set up to crunch these sorts of numbers."

"No pressure then."

A hand on her arm as she began to turn back. She looked into eyes so blue they froze time every time she saw them. She smiled and grabbed Liara's hand in return, squeezing it and bumping their helmets together before the asari climbed into the mako. "Get us as close as you can Joker," she said into her radio before climbing aboard.

* * *

The mako responded easily to her touch once they were planet-side. She had improved a lot over the course of their missions, and she had to admit that Garrus' calibrations certainly helped the responsiveness. The terrain was rough though, and more than once they hit a pot-hole that had been concealed until the wheels suddenly leapt up. They were all in their positions, Wrex strapped in by the door as he waited to be unleashed the second they needed to switch to an on-foot assault. Garrus was on the machine gun while Ashley manned the cannon. Tali was at the thrusters and Liara was in the co-pilot's seat next to Shepard. There was one empty seat next to Wrex. In the past it had been Ashley's, and Kaidan Alenko had manned the gun. But Kaidan was dead.

All these thoughts went through Shepard's head before the mako had even made it to full speed. It was a nervous habit, running over everything that was the same or different about her surroundings when the mission began. It helped keep her mind off the fact that there might be killing to do in the next few hours, or that she might, if things went wrong, lose people. Again. Just like Akuze and Mindoir and Virmire.

Those thoughts she shoved from her mind as violently as she could. She didn't need to go traipsing down that memory lane any time soon. Instead she looked over to Liara, a point of calm for her. All she needed was a second, but they were already coming up on the first fusion torch, the orange flare lighting space above them. Shepard egged the thrusters some more and the mako hopped forwards.

"Incoming." Garrus sounded as calm as always, but there was nothing calm about the machine gun whirring to life under his command, spraying bullets towards the missile turret which had opened fire on them. Shepard slung the mako into a hard skid to the right, which had the unfortunate effect of presenting their broadside to three rocket turrets. The shields crackled and sparked and the tank listed onto three wheels. Tali nudged the thrusters on the left side and brought them upright, giving Ashley a perfect shot right down the muzzle of one of the turrets. It exploded into sparks just as Garrus' machine gunning blew the second one. Turret number three stood no chance under their combined fire, and in no time at all they were standing before the first pre-fab shelter.

Wrex and Ashley went first, rifles out, with Garrus in support. Tali and Liara hung back, while Shepard stayed in the cover of the door until everyone was inside. Once the door was closed they took off their helmets and collapsed them into handy belt-clip ons. Shepard took point again as they went into the main room of the pre-fab shelter. Wrex and Ashley were hidden on either side of the door frame in case she needed quick support.

The door cycled open and she saw two aliens, crouching over a human body in scientist's gear. There were two varren next to them, which set her on edge immediately. Only a handful of species used tamed varren. Her fears were confirmed when the aliens turned and she saw the four eyes and bald heads of Batarians. She started to raise her hands but one of them opened fire immediately while the other shouted something to the varren her translator couldn't pick up. Her shield absorbed the shots easily and she snapped her pistol up, catching the first varren clean in the centre of the forehead. It shrugged off the round but the incendiary charge it carried wasn't so easily dislodged, and within seconds the beast had burned from the inside out.

At the sound of gunfire Wrex and Ashley had stepped from cover and opened up with the rifles, a stream of bullets which ripped the second varren in half. The batarians were both running for cover but they weren't even wearing true combat armour. There were no shields to stop the combined rifle and pistol ammo shredding them into pulp. From the left came more shouts and gunfire, prompting Shepard to run into the room properly and dive for cover behind a stack of crates. There were at least two more she could see, but she didn't have an angle from where she was crouched. She put a few rounds into the floor next to one of the pirates anyway and was rewarded when he ran right out into Garrus' line of fire.

A grenade took care of the last two and the room fell silent. Her team moved without her direction to check for survivors and clear out any nasty traps or hiding mercenaries. They had been working together long enough now to know exactly what she needed from them and where they were supposed to go. Tali and Liara came to her side as they hurried up the stairs to find Wrex standing before a locked door. Tali's name was on her lips but the quarian had already hurried into position and had the door open in seconds. Shepard couldn't help the smile tugging at her lips as she followed her team into the room. The fusion torch's controls were there, clearly labelled for idiot-proofing. It took no effort at all to get them shut off.

Her earpiece sprang to life again with the woman's voice.

"I'm reading that the torch is offline. Was that you? Can you hear me?"

Shepard rested against the table in the room. "Who are you? What's going on?"

She wasn't sure whether the message had got through, but after a few moment's of static the woman was back again. "My name's Kate Bowman, I'm an engineer. I was part of the team they assigned to bring this asteroid to Terra Nova. We were attacked yesterday by batarian extremists. I've been hiding since they arrived." There was another few seconds of silence which gave Shepard more than enough time to consider all the horrible things the batarians could have done in twenty four hours. "I think they know the torch went out."

_Perfect._ "Why are they doing this?"

"I don't know. But if this asteroid isn't slowed millions of people on Terra Nova are going to die. If I find out anything I'll give you a call. Gotta go. Good luck."

Shepard wanted to saw something about staying safe, or not doing anything stupid, but the line was already dead. And despite her many misgivings about a civilian poking around a hot zone she had to admit that insider knowledge could be helpful. She settled for sending a quick prayer the woman's way and led her team back downstairs.

As they walked out to the atrium there was a human standing there, dressed in basic combat gear and holding a pistol.

Shepard stepped forwards and waved to catch his attention. "Hey."

He whirled around and fired before she could duck. Thankfully the round impacted on her shield and dissipated entirely. She thanked whatever god of armour manufacturers was listening and tried to look like it didn't matter. She didn't need this guy to start panicking on top of everything else.

"Oh God!" He almost dropped the gun. "I didn't mean to…"

"Takes more than one shot bring me down." She said, keeping her tone even. Behind her she heard Wrex and Garrus muttering to each other, but she ignored that.

"Sorry, I didn't even realise you were human until…" he gestured uselessly. "Well, guess I'm not much of a soldier."

"I know you're scared, but I'm here to help." She pasted her best meet-the-locals smile on. "Commander Shepard, with the Alliance."

He seemed to be calming down. "Simon. Simon Atwell. I'm the Chief Engineer on this rock. Listen, we don't have much time. The batarians fired up the fusion torches." _Thanks for the news flash._ "You've got to shut them down before we hit Terra Nova. There are four million people down there Shepard I…" He paused, just long enough for her to contemplate the situation she was now in. Four million was far too many to evacuate. They didn't have ships or time. "My family, they live in Aronas, my kids and grandkids, nice community, good schools…"

She didn't have time for this. "I don't have time to do the math in my head. What happens if we don't stop this rock?"

He proceeded to give her an entirely unnecessary science lesson. She supposed it was his way of keeping calm, but really 'things will suck pretty hard' would have been enough for her.

"Is there any chance it'll land in the ocean?" She asked when he was finally done.

"That would be even worse!" She sensed another lecture coming on. "Tsunamis would sweep inland at hundreds of kilometres per hour, millions of tons of water would be vaporised at the point of impact, global cloud coverage, the plants could all die and if they go the whole ecosystem rolls over. I'd have to run the numbers but take my word for it, it'd be bad."

_So the short answer is, we stop this thing in atmosphere or else. _"This doesn't make any sense," Garrus said behind her. "Bataraians run criminal gangs, unethical but profitable. They don't destroy worlds, what does this gain them?"

"I've heard all the stories, slaver-rings ranching people like animals," Shepard hoped her flinch was unnoticeable, but she swore Liara moved a half step close rot her. "Pirate bands burning colonies to the ground, but this is… The citadel conventions forbid asteroid drops, I never thought the batarians would go this far."

She needed to get him back on track. "How many are there?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. I saw them going into the main building, but they sent out teams to all the fusion torches. There could be dozens, hundreds…"

"Do you know who's leading them? That might give me a clue." _A clue about what sort of madman he is._

"They were all saying something about 'Balak.'"

"Thanks for your help. You'd better find someplace to hide."

"No fear." She almost smiled, but the guy was spooked enough already. They watched as he disappeared into the pre-fab shelter they had cleaned out. Wrex grunted a little, and she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Helmets on people," she said instead of voicing any of her thoughts. "Get ready to shift."

**AN:-** So quite a few Author's Notes on this historic return to Mass Effect novelisations.

I haven't had my XBox in Belfast for nearly two years now, and subsequently have not played Mass Effect in nearly two years. But now I have my XBox and am playing Mass Effect again and will be starting this novelisation up once more. I'm currently finishing up a playthrough of ME1, which prompted this little indulgence, and will be moving on to ME2, hopefully by tomorrow. So expect Out of the Dark to start updating again sometime in the next couple of weeks (depending on how long it takes me to get back to the bit I was at before.)

About the chapter:

In Out of the Dark I establish that the border patrols have been going on for six months when the Collectors attack. I decided that during this time some of the side quests I did not mention in my Into Greatness novelisation happen in this intervening time rather than during the main quest. Things like Helena Blake's little side mission. This doesn't honestly have much of an effect, it's just to explain how I consider the canon within my stories to work.

I still like Ashley and Joker as a couple. Obviously they won't be lasting past ME2 but for now it was nice for me to look back and remember that time like five years ago when I shipped them. I also have a thing for them doing the naughty in inappropriate places. Liara continues her education of Earth culture and I speculate on some movies Pixar/Disney might potentially release in the next hundred years. I also suspect they may own a whole planet. How cool would that be?

I really want my Shepard and Liara to share actual interests instead of just being together because they're together. I also love the idea that they tease each other about trying to understand each other's culture. Like Shepard once convinced Liara that what the 23rd Century equivalent of 'Friday' is is actually considered to be high art by the humans, so Liara spent a month trying to listen to it every day and understand humans better until Adams or someone explained that she'd been had. Then in retaliation she gave Shepard the asari equivalent of a text on 'resistentialism' or something. Obviously they are just about to watch 'I'll Make a Man out of You' from the Disney movie 'Mulan.'

Where do they put the helmets when they go inside the pre-fab shelters? (more importantly why take them off at all, surely more armour can't be a bad thing?)

Yeah, someone clearly did a lot of research about asteroid impacts and wanted to put it into this game whether it was appropriate or not. I decided to cut most of his explanation because it feels horribly out of place and really exposition heavy info-dumpy. The only justification I have is that he's a scientist who's way out of his depth and he's taking comfort in textbook knowledge.

Next chapter out tomorrow hopefully. For now I need sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:-** A day in and already I'm slipping behind schedule. That doesn't bode well at all.

**Chapter Two: Back in the Saddle**

Shepard took them up and over the rocks at full speed, aiming for the orange glow of the second fusion torch. They crested the hill and almost immediately the ground before them was churned by an explosion. She drove straight through the crater, bouncing high over the lip, the mako's wheels spinning in nothing. She dimly heard Tali cursing behind her before they slammed back down to the ground, more missiles exploding around them. "Garrus, Williams," she growled. "Now would be an excellent time for some of that gunnery."

They didn't disappoint, and while Ashley blew one turret clean away Garrus put a single bullet straight down the muzzle of another, detonating the missile that had been about to fire on them. Shepard kept gunning the mako forwards until the red warning light blazed on the edge of her vision. She hauled back on the throttle and pulled the brakes on, sending them into a wild skid, gravel and dust flying all around them. At the very least it gave them some cover, and using the sensors Garrus and Ashley were able to dispatch the last two turrets. The mako collided with something and they came to a dead halt.

"Caution," the on board computer repeated. "Proximity sensors detect subterranean mines in the area. Proceed on foot." Shepard shut the warning off and nodded to Wrex, who elbowed the door release and jumped out onto the dirt.

They piled out, Shepard second to last and Liara just behind her. Before them they could see a minefield. Shepard sighed, and turned to her team. "Anyone have any experience with these things?" Wrex and Tali both raised their hands. "You're on point. Go slow, everyone else follow their footsteps. Move out."

It was slow going. Wrex would test the area a dozen times before he even put his foot down, going so far as to lower his face to the ground on one occasion and push a tiny amount of dirt with his hand before giving the area a wide berth. Tali was a few steps away from him, crouched down and scanning every inch of the gravel with her omni tool before moving on. There seemed to be a reasonably straight corridor from the edge to the bunker, but they were right in the middle of open terrain and moving less than a foot every ten seconds. It was enough to get every one of Shepard's nerves on edge as she anticipated the sniper's bullet or grenade trap waiting for them. The going was slow enough that her mind even started to wander, always a dangerous sign, and it took her back to Akuze, the slow trek through open plains right before a Thresher Maw split the ground in front of them.

She shook the memory from her head again and focused on Liara, who was walking ahead of her. New team, new mission. She didn't think about Akuze as much anymore, but now and again it popped into her head.

They were halfway across when Tali went reeling, almost falling out of the safe zone she had established. Wrex was by her side in an instant, grabbing her and urning so that his bulk shielded her from the next dozen blows. Garrus moved forward and used Wrex and makeshift cover to return fire on the batarians who were pouring out of the shelter as Ashley came and took Tali back behind safety. The combined strength of three bullet shields and three bodies was enough to keep the quarian, in her lighter armour, safe. The three soldiers stood close enough together that their shields overlapped, causing them to crackle and hum and shoot blue sparks all around. It was an old trick, since once all three shields were engaged by gunfire they would even be able to share their power.

Shepard crouched down and got her sniper rifle into position, the scope relaying information on the shot. She ignored that. It was less than fifty yards. She could have made it with a pistol if she wanted. The rifle bucked against her shoulder and she opened her left eye just in time to see her target fall, a massive hole punched in his armour. She smiled grimly as she opened the heat shield to let air in to the heat sink. Sniper rifles at fifty yards. No armour stood a chance.

Behind her Liara yelped and thudded into the ground. Shepard spun just in time to see the corona of her shield fading. Someone was sniping them back. She stared away at the ridges, nearly a mile and a half away. She saw the faintest glimmer of light and another round made her own shields spark. A sniper. Probably set up with some sort of mount and a long distance scope. Sitting there to make sure no one did precisely what they were intending to do. She knelt and scraped some of the dirt in front of her together to give her a rest, then lay flat on the ground and positioned the rifle.

He was so far out the rangefinder couldn't help her, although the wind speed gauge gave her a fair approximation of the disturbance caused by the asteroid's movement. She scanned the ridge for three full seconds before she finally picked him out, barely a stick figure through the scope, hunched over a rifle that must have been nearly as big as he was. It flashed again while she watched and she was vaguely aware that next to her the dirt had been kicked up. Her shields were almost entirely gone and another hit from that thing would cut her in half. She breathed slow. He was a good shot, but obviously no sniper. He was relying on the scope to go his aiming for him. There was something else, something that had set her apart even in basic, something she needed to draw on now.

The noise of the gunfight behind her dimmed, then vanished as she heard her blood roaring through her ears. The hum of her shield trying to recharge faded too, until she was lost in the tiny circle, the stick figure and her own heartbeat. His gun flashed again but she didn't even register the impact. A near-light slug, low atmosphere but significant gravity, a wind speed generated by the movement of nearly 5 km. The facts and figures flashed through her head and she raised the scope ever so slightly, shifting it to the right until she was aiming at a space just above and to the right of the target. He was still in the bottom left of her scope, but his feet had been cut off now. She breathed slower, and her heartbeart now sounded with a rhythmic thudding in her ears.

_Four_

_Three_

_Two_

As her conscious counted _one_ she was squeezing the trigger back firmly, one motion that set the entire rifle into motion. She swore she could feel it, every millisecond as the slug made its way through the barrel and vanished into a streak of light. The rifle bucked and jumped beneath her, pulling her focus away from the target. She opened the heat shield automatically, but kept her eye glued to the scope, trying to find the target again.

"You got him Shepard." Garrus' voice brought her snapping back to the present.

She rolled over and looked up to see him scanning the ridge through his own scope. "He's definitely down," Garrus confirmed. "Nice shot by the way. What was that? A mile? Mile and a half?"

"Somewhere about there." She closed the heat shield and stood, collecting the rifle and compacting it. She could see that the batarians had been taken care of while she was sniping, and Ashley had made her way over to the console to shut down the blasting caps. "How are we doing?"

The injuries list wasn't as bad as she had feared. Tali's shields had absorbed all the force of the first shot, and Wrex's armour had a few new dings in the back but was otherwise unharmed. Liara had a graze on her arm where the sniper's first bullet had gone through her shields and scraped through her armour, but a single swipe of medigel to numb the pain was all she needed. Shepard waved for Ashley to stay where she was by the door and the rest of the team moved into the second bunker.

Inside it was the same layout as the first, and indeed the same as every pre-fab shelter they had encountered across the entire galaxy. They set up into their usual positions, but this time Shepard didn't waste time with the peaceful approach. Wrex and Ashley went through with assault rifles blazing, Garrus and Tali bringing up the rear in support. Batarian cries from inside were quickly silenced and in less than a minute they were all dead. Shepard stepped into the room to find her team securing weapons and checking the bodies. Batarians had a tendency to ask for death when they were defeated in battle, even if they could have been healed. Shepard turned away as Garrus gave one of them a mercy shot.

"Tali," the quarian looked up from where she was disabling a mine. "Get the controls?"

Tali hurried off to shut down the torch while Shepard disabled the mine. Liara was moving around the perimeter doing the same. They were halfway round when the wall next to Shepard exploded.

At first she wondered if she had missed a mine, but then a second explosion blasted against her shields, overloading them and slamming her into the wall. Thankfully her armour held but she could feel the skin on her neck blistering from the heat. She dropped to the floor and rolled awkwardly behind a crate.

Assault rifles opened up again and she heard more rockets blasting apart the room. She dragged her pistol off her belt and peered out from behind the crate. Apparently when Tali had opened the door she had activated a secondary defence system, and now it was pouring rocket drones into the room. Once she was sure all of her team were behind cover she signalled Liara to open up a singularity in the room.

The black hole sprang to life instantly, sucking the robots in and grinding them until sparks flew and metal disintegrated under the pressure. The force of the vacuum started to pull the team towards it as well, but Liara dropped the field before they got sucked in. Shepard stepped out and looked to the upper balcony, where Tali was waving down to her. "I am fine," she shouted.

"Is the torch down?"

"Give me a minute!"

Shepard grinned and turned back to the team, "get back to the mako. I'll be back with Tali when she's done."

Liara stayed behind as well, of course, but Shepard didn't complain. She had grown used to the asari's presence, shadowing her, protecting her. Tali and Liara were her most frequent companions on simple missions. Liara provided biotics, Tali the tech ability, and Shepard covered any combat needs they had.

As Tali came down the stairs the radio fizzed to life again.

"Are you there? You've got to hurry, you've really pissed them off. Their leader's setting charges everywhere. I think he's going to blow this whole facility!"

Just as Shepard was raising her hand to respond another voice came over the line, harsh and guttural.

"Get away from there."

"Don't shoot!" There was fear in the woman's voice. "Please no."

Boots, and the sound of someone being thrown to the ground.

"Who's disabling the torches." That voice caught Shepard's attention. It had the ring of command. This had to be Balak. "I won't ask again."

The gunshot made her flinch, even muffled by the bad connection. "Get her out of here."

The line cut off.

She didn't know how long she stood there before Liara's hand was on her shoulder. She realised she was gritting her teeth hard enough to make her jaw hurt. "What is it?" Liara said.

"He killed one of them." She left the other thought unsaid. _I can__'t save anyone._

Liara knew her well enough though, and pulled her into an embrace. Tali went to the door to wait for them. Eventually they broke apart and Shepard managed a weak smile. "Thanks."

"We will save who we can," Liara said. "Do you think that Kate is alive?"

"Balak told his minion to take her somewhere. She's still alive, I'm sure of it."

"Then we will save her. And Simon is still out there. Two people are better than none."

Shepard nodded. "Okay."

Back on the mako Shepard took a moment to fill the crew in while they headed for the third and final fusion torch. "This is now a hostage situation people. We have at least one scientist being held by the batarians. For now we assume she is alive, and possibly there are others in the same position. But right now we need to stop the third torch."

"What about the batarians?" Wrex growled.

"Once we're done with the torches I'll let you feed Balak his own head."

She slammed the mako into gear, fast enough to knock everyone back in their seats, and fixed the glow of the final torch firmly in the viewxcreen.

The controls for the final torch were housed in what was clearly the main computer bank. The entire bunker was cryo frozen, and was cold enough that Shepard even turned on her helmet before venturing further in. Liara and Ashley put their helmets on as well, but Wrex only grunted about 'puny humans.' Garrus grumbled a little about the cold, but he preferred to use his new eye piece instead of the helmet sensors.

It was bitterly cold. Shepard turned the internal heat up on her suit but she could still feel icy tendrils creeping at her fingers as she unholstered her pistol and expanded it. The processors gave them plenty of cover as they made their way through the room, and the batarians were barely able to score a single hit, while her team used every gap between the machines to clear the other half of the room. Shepard finally put a pistol shot through the head of the final batarian and they moved upstairs to the fusion torch controls. Thankfully the upstairs room was heated, and as they waited for Tali to shut down the controls everyone piled in to warm up.

The final torch shut down and she radioed the Normandy. "How are we looking Joker?"

"Looks like the asteroid is still moving, but at least it's not accelerating anymore."

"What does that mean?"

"You've bought yourself a couple of extra hours at most. But the torches need to be set into reverse to steer the asteroid away from the planet. That'll take someone with real technical knowhow."

"Alright then." Shepard turned to the crew. "Looks like we have a new mission."

"Not rescuing the hostages?"

"Actually these missions are linked. We need someone with the knowhow to slow this asteroid down. That means we need to rescue a scientist. Someone who can work the system properly. If Kate Bowman is still alive then she can help us steer this thing."

"And if she's not?" Garrus asked.

"Then we find someone who can."

She slapped the door control before anyone could say anything else and marched back out.

From beneath she heard a harsh batarian voice. "Hold it right there." She looked over the edge to see a trio of batarians aiming guns up at her. The leader met her eyes. "This doesn't have to end in bloodshed."

"Be with you in a minute," she said quietly.

She traipsed down the stairs, motioning her team to stay where they were. When she reached the bottom of the stairs he held up his hand.

"Don't come any closer. We can do this the hard way, or we can end this peacefully."

She stopped. "I didn't think you batarians knew the meaning of the word."

His guards bristled, but the leader smiled. "Look. I'm just doing my job here. Hijacking this rock wasn't my idea. I signed on to make a little profit, a quick slave grab, nothing more."

"This isn't just a slave grab anymore." She folded her arms and met his lower set of eyes. "Millions of people are going to die."

"Don't you think I know that? I'm just following orders here. If it were up to me we'd have already left."

She sensed the crack in the armour. "Well it's not too late. You can still leave."

"I don't think so, Balak would skin me alive and sell my hide out of spite." He grinned, one of the more disturbing expressions she had ever seen on a batarian's face. "Crazy bastard. This whole missions gone to hell and I'm gonna pay for it."

"So why do you listen to him?"

"Good question. I had a bad feeling about this from the moment we landed. Now Balak wants you dead, and want Balak wants Balak gets. I can't change that."

"Do you always wanna be second in command? Get me out of here and I'll take care of Balak." She had him figured out. "Then you can start giving the orders."

"Huh, an interesting proposal. It certainly has benefits over the current situation." He nodded decisively, turning to his guards. "Shut it down, this is Balak's problem now." He smiled, but it had no warmth to it. "I hope you're as quick with a gun as you are with promises, for both our sakes."

She smiled back at him. "Balak will get what's coming to him, and so will you if I ever catch you in human territory again." The smile dropped off her face. "Are we clear?"

"Perfectly." He tossed her a keycard. "Balak's holed up in the main facility. You'll need that to get in. Don't underestimate him. He's a mean bastard." He nodded to her nd turned back to his guards. "Let's go. We're getting off this rock."

"You let him go." Garrus was the first down the stairs. "Why?"

"Honestly? No idea." She led them to the exit. "I didn't need to kill him."

"He's a batarian. And a pirate. He'll just go off and make someone else's life hell instead."

"Well maybe I'm tired of killing everything in my way." She smacked the door control and activated her helmet at the same time. The atmosphere in the pre-fab shelter extended just past the open door, but there was no sense risking it. Besides, she didn't want them to be able to see her face. "Let's just get this done."

**AN:-** I kind of thought that Wrex and Tali would have the best expertise for actually navigating a minefield. Also, I wanted it to be slightly more realistic than a loud buzzer that goes off whenever you're too close to one of the giant flashing sticks that clearly indicates where a mine is. Those are to make gameplay easier, in an actual minefield it would be much harder.

My favourite moment in this chapter is Wrex grabbing Tali when she's been shot and shielding her with his own body. Like these are two characters who barely interact, who I never took along at the same time on missions, and who in-canon have basically no connection besides Shepard. But I still think they'd see each other as comrades and shipmates, so he just unthinkingly comes to her aid.

The sniping bit is my second favourite moment. I haven't had much of a chance to write Shepard being a proper sniper, so I thought I'd throw in a little ode to her skill. hopefully this might become relevant sometime in Out of the Dark. I love doing this in game as well, using the sniper rifle when you're so far away it doesn't even give you a metre reading on how distant the target is. Obviously you don't really have to account for things like wind speed and droppage but it's a fun little display of skill.

The second fusion torch has rocket drones guarding it. I thought it would be more dramatic if they attacked after you thought the area was safe. I'm probably wrong.

Objects in motion remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. Just turning off the torches would not stop the asteroid, although they would keep it from accelerating. So while the asteroid was constantly accelerating they had four hours, now it's stuck on one speed so they've maybe bought themselves an extra hour, but of course they still have to give the scientists enough time to reverse the inertia. Yes I know some science, please don't faint. 'Insert deadliest sonofabitch in space reference here.'

My Shepard has the Mindoir background. Writing her with batarians is not my favourite task in the world. But the way I have always written Maia is that she is forgiving to a fault, understand how to apportion blame to those who genuinely deserve it instead of accusing an entire race for the actions of one group, and is generally very tired and sick of killing (see her therapy sessions and the fears she has in in Into Greatness) See, it all ties together.

Probably only one more chapter for this little vignette. Then I can maybe do a bit more work to try and get the characters back in my mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:- **Final Chapter

**Chapter Three: Balak**

The main facility didn't look as heavily defended. There were no obvious turret emplacements like there had been at the fusion torches. Some mining equipment had been put up, clearly for when the asteroid was ready to be strip mined and turned into a space station. The Batarians hadn't even stationed any guards. Shepard wasn't quite convinced, but they were running out of time and options. She pushed the Mako forwards, heading for the entrance.

They were only metres away when the Mako lurched sickeningly to one side, the shields flaring out and the alarms blaring. Shepard elbowed them off and fought for control. "Anyone, report!"

"They've put the turrets on the mine carts," Garrus growled, struggling to keep one of them in his sights while the Mako spun. Another missile slammed into the dirt in front of them, obscuring the sensors. Shepard jammed the accelerator to full just as Tali hit the thrusters. The Mako launched itself up and forwards, out of the dust cloud and a good thirty feet towards the facility. They creased into the side wall, momentarily lined up perfectly with one of the turrets. Garrus and Williams fired as one, the combined strength of a missile and assault cannon destroying the turret and the cart it was on.

The wheels spun and the limped forwards, away from the turret shooting them from the back. Ashley was frantically swinging the turret round while Garrus peppered the thing with machine gun fire. Shepard waited until they were metres away from a gigantic drill before swinging them to the side and running them parallel to the mining equipment. "Any time now Ash!" She yelled.

The Mako juddered as the main gun roared and the turret was blasted off its mine cart and into the dirt below. Shepard slowed the Mako and brought them in a slow circle to the front of the facility. "Alright," she said. "Not long to go now people."

* * *

Inside the doors they came to an atrium, three levels and bad guys on every level. Shepard swore and ducked for cover behind a potted plant, her pistol in hand. "What have they got?" She asked Garrus when he peeked up to look at the enemy numbers.

"Oh they got every damn thing," he said, readying his assault rifle.

"Good, just what I was hoping." Shepard ran through the options in her head. "Garrus, Ashley, you go high. Clear out the balcony and use it as a firing position. Wrex, Liara, you take the middle level. Tali, follow me."

She sprinted forwards, firing blind, and vaulted the railing to come crashing down one story below outside a small glass walled room. She slammed hard into the glass and took one second to take a deep breath before leaning out and shooting the closest Batarian in the face. He dropped with a look of utter shock on his face which she greatly enjoyed.

From above the sound of gunfire reached her, the rhythmic cracking of assault rifles and pistols that signalled her team was doing its job well. Tali was next to her, covering the other side of the elevator. Between them they took out all the Batarians on the lower level, they rushed for the stairs. They hit the middle level just as Wrex and Liara were coming round to meet them. Above, Ashley and Garrus fired a couple more times to make sure their targets really were dead, then headed for the stairs.

Before they even reached the stairs a Batarian walked out, bodyguards and a Varren with him. His skin was a green-ish colour she had never seen on a Batarian before. "You humans," he growled it. She recognised the voice from the radio. This was Balak. "You're almost more trouble than you're worth."

She put her foot on the first step. "Let the hostages go, and maybe you'll live long enough to explain yourself to the Council."

"I don't answer to the Council, or to you. I'm leaving this asteroid. If you try to stop me I'll detonate these charges, and your friends are all going to die." He held up the detonator and she cursed under her breath. If he even dropped that thing the bombs would go off.

"I can't just let you go Balak. Not after what happened here."

That made him angry. "This is nothing! You humans have done far worse to the Batarians. We've been forced into exile, forced to survive on what we can scrounge up, it's been like that for decades."

"Why take it out on these people? They didn't do anything you or the Batarians." She could feel Wrex shifting behind her, and silently urged him to stay quiet and not do anything stupid. She didn't have much hope of talking Balak down, she knew that, but she didn't want to give him any reason to hit the detonator early.

"Didn't do anything! Aside from colonising a world that could have been ours, aside from using resources that should have been ours! We were left to defend ourselves, but the humans were stronger than us. We knew that the council knew that. But it didn't matter, it was you. You and your kind are the only reason we're in this position." He was a fanatic. A true believer in his cause. Nothing she could say would change his mind. If he wasn't holding that detonator she'd have popped one in his head already.

She kept her voice as calms she could, but some of her anger was creeping in. "And how does killing innocent people make up for that?"

"We had no other options," the Varren at his side growled menacingly. She wasn't worried, Wrex would be able to take it bare handed if he wanted. "Sometimes you need to get someone's attention before they'll listen."

"Is that what Elysium was?" She knew where she recognised the name Balk from. He hadn't been the ringleader, but she had seen his name on the after action report. "A way to get our attention? Well you got it and when we responded you ran like cowards, now you wanna start it all over again."

"Enough!" She had touched a nerve there. If he had been human he would have been frothing at the mouth. "You couldn't possibly understand. Actually you just don't wanna understand and I'm done wasting my breath. Now if you want your friends to live, I suggest you step aside."

She only struggled for a moment. Civilians everywhere? Bombs ready to blow them apart? Or a random Batarian she would be able to hunt down in a month. "You can go," she said, grinding the words out through gritted teeth. "But this isn't over. I'll find you eventually."

"Maybe." The smug bastard had the audacity to look pleased with himself. "But I made sure you won't follow me today. Those charges are still on timer better hurry if you want to save your friends."

As he ran for the door Wrex unloaded at him, but his bodyguard's shields took most of the force. Ashley managed to clip his varren and put it down but there were more pirates pouring in from every door. "Tali, with me, everyone else, covering fire now!"

They exploded into action, Tali taking the stairs four at a time while Shepard backed her up. Garrus and Ashley were in combat formation in seconds, spraying fire across the room. Shepard and Tali stayed low behind the railings to avoid most of the gunfire, but there were pirates ahead of them as well. Shepard provided covering fire while Tali hurried to the first charge, sliding herself under it and activating her omni tool. Their cover was being destroyed by gunfire but Tali was done in seconds.

"It is no problem."

"Good."

"We have two minutes."

"Fantastic."

She vaulted the railing and landed hard on the floor below, rolling into a shooting crouch and firing as fast as her trigger finger could move. The heat sink was going to overheat soon, but she had forced all the pirates in front of her to jump behind cover. Tali landed next to her, cursing in quatrain. "Two minutes Tali, how many bombs do you think?"

"At least another two on my scanners, maybe a third."

_Not enough time._ She shoved that thought aside. "Move!" She leapt out into fire, her shields flaring and draining fast. She ignored it, pushing through the gunfire and leaping over the enemy cover. She landed on top of one of the pirates and knocked him to the floor, his neck twisting unnaturally as her full weight came down on him. She rolled off the body and found the second one in her vision, unloading a dozen shots his way. Tali came flying through her field of vision, ignoring the enemy entirely and sprinting for the next bomb.

Her target finally dropped and she rolled to her feet, spotting Tali ahead of her already underneath the next bomb. A second later she slid out and nodded to Shepard. "Downstairs again," Shepard yelled, already heading for the railings once more. She slammed hard into the bottom floor, her ankle twisting as she fell. The third bomb was directly in front of her, and a second later Tali came over the railings and landed right on her back.

"Sorry Shepard," she said as she slid into place beneath the third bomb.

"No problem," Shepard grunted as she stood again and got into cover. She didn't have to wait long before Tali slid out again. "Any more?"

"My scanner isn't registering any electronic signals."

Shepard thumbed her comm unit. "Garrus?"

"All raiders taken care of. We released the engineers as well, thought you could use a hand with the fourth bomb."

"Good thinking Garrus."

She breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back against the wall. "Good work team. Balak?"

"He's long gone commander," Joker's voice broke in over the comm unit. "We picked up a signal from a hard burn shuttle. Should we pursue?"

"Do you have a destination?"

"A hard burn rocket wouldn't get him very far," Garrus was on the line as well. "Probably just a short hop to a ship."

"Any signatures Joker?"

"We're too close to Terra Nova. There's about a dozen commercial vessels in range."

"Of course. He's a fanatic, not a madman. This was well planned right from the start."

"Orders Commander?"

"Help the survivors, secure the area. Make sure there's no more unpleasant surprises waiting for us."

"And Balak?"

"Lives to fight another day."

"Understood Commander."

As Shepard limped to the main level again the scientist from before arrived through one of the side doors.

"He left. Is that… is that alright?"

She nodded slowly. "Letting him go was better than the alternative." She managed to grin. "I thought you were gonna stay someplace safe."

"I…" He smiled as well. "There might have been something I could have done to help. I thought I should be here. I know this asteroid better than anyone." He smiled for real, But she could see how terrified he still was. "You did it, another hour and our course would have been irreversible." He continued to blather about numbers and how many people had been saved but she was barely listening. She knew they had been saved. It was what she did. She vaguely registered that he was asking about Kate Bowman.

"Balak was holding them hostage, I let him go to save them."

"Let a terrorist go or sacrifice innocent lives… I'm glad that's not a choice I had to make." _Understatement._ "Is that, will you get in trouble for that? I mean he could do the same thing somewhere else couldn't he?"

"Yeah he could. Balak seemed like a practical man, practical but callous, I'm sure if he'd been in my place Ms Bowman would be dead now, along with all the terrorists. But I'm not gonna sacrifice people who happen to be between me and my target."

"So what happens now? The bad guys get away?"

She nodded. "Balak gets away today. But we'll still be after him tomorrow, and the day after that. Me, my crew, and every other crew in the Alliance." It was a speech she had given a dozen times to a dozen scared civilians and as many news cameras. "He'll run and he'll hide, but eventually he'll slip up and we'll get him. Bad guys never get away Simon, not unless the good guys give up."

It seemed to cheer him up. "Well I wouldn't want you after me. Shepard. Thank you, for my grandchildrens' lives. I don't think I'll stick around though, not with the team gone, too many ghosts. It's time for me to get back and spend some time with my family."

"That sounds like a great idea." She looked up to where her team was letting the last of the engineers free. "I have to go Simon. Look after yourself okay?"

Upstairs she found Liara and Ashley waiting outside one of the rooms. "Is she?"

Ashley nodded.

Shepard stepped into the room to see a young female scientist standing in the corner, facing the wall with here head bowed.

"I can't believe you let Balak go, to save us. I half expected you to just let us die, sacrifice the few for the many."

"Then I'd be no better than the Batarians. Besides, Balak won't get away with this, I know who he is now, he can't run forever."

She turned around, and Shepard was surprised at how young she looked. She couldn't have been long out of university. "You sound like my brother, he was always so stubborn, but always willing to do the right thing, no matter what."

All the pieces clicked together, and she realised what had happened earlier. "Your brother was the one Balak killed."

"Yes." There was sadness on her face, And a deeper ache that Shepard recognised. It hadn't hit her yet, but the grief that was coming was nothing to the pain she felt now. Shepard didn't tell her that of course. "Aaron. He was the one who convinced me to join the team here, said it would be an adventure." She opened her mouth to say more, but then closed it as tears came to her eyes. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful but I should see to Aaron."

"I understand," Shepard said. She had no doubt this young woman would be just fine. It would take some time, but if she was strong enough to have done what she did already, she was strong enough to face what came next. "You've been through enough today, I'll get out of your way."

"Thank you," as Shepard was turning to leave Kate stepped forwards. "I don't even know your name."

"Commander Shepard. With Special Tactics and Reconnaissance."

"Thank you Commander Shepard. You're not exactly what I expected, but thank you."

* * *

Back on the Normandy she lay on her bed thinking about the mission. It had been full of old painful memories. Batarians, a family lost, a young woman with no idea what to do next. Of course she'd see similarities. But Kate was older, and there were other scientists, and a whole colony that had been saved in stead of lost.

"Maia?"

It was Liara of course. Only she had the ability to open the door. "Do you wish to be alone?"

"Actually very much the opposite." Shepard waved at her from the bed. "You'll have to come to me though, I'm still off my feet." Okay so it was just a cold compress, but she was going to take every chance she could to lie down.

"I cannot imagine that was easy for you."

"It's funny how it comes back to me. I see a Batarian and as much as I try I can't help but remember. I know now every Batarian is a pirate, I know that the ones involved in the raid on Mindoir must be dead by now. But still. I just wish I didn't flinch every time I even saw a Batarian."

"You need not feel ashamed for such emotions." Liara lay down next to her, propping herself on her side. "You could have slaughtered all of them, given no thought to the hostages, but instead you saved the hostages and let the Batarians go. If you were truly the monster you feared yourself to be you would not have let Balak's second in command go either. You have moved past those memories now."

"I know. Ask me tomorrow and I'll know. But right now it's hard to see it any other way."

"Well then we must do something to take your mind off of it."

"We never did finish Mulan."

"Actually," Liara moved in the slinky way she had that made Maia's breath catch in her throat. "I had something a little more physical in mind."

"My my Doctor T'soni, you surprise me."

Liara kissed her softly, just enough pressure to tease at the night to come. "Do not blame yourself for letting him go free Maia. It is far nobler to save lives than take them."

"How is it you always know exactly what to say to me?"

"Because I know you very well."

"Well I will just have to keep you around then won't I?"

"I am not going anywhere Shepard."

**AN:-** And so ends Mass Effect: Bring Down the Sky. Usual round up of where I stole stuff from:

'They got every damn thing' Firefly.

Yeah no one was ever able to explain to me why you and your team couldn't shoot Balak through the head, then disarm the bomb. You have like 4 minutes. So I added the detonator that would go off if he died and a shorter time limit.

I love the thought of Tali using Shepard as a cushion to survive the drop off the balcony.

I'm not really a fan of the ending of Bring Down the Sky. Everyone stands around and goes on about how awesome Shepard is and she gives some really corny speech about 'We'll get him next time, never fear!' So I made it deliberately that Shepard has this like prepared speech for frightened civvies that she just kind of reels off when it's needed.

I hope you enjoyed Mass Effect: Bring Down the Sky. Please enjoy my other works: Into Greatness, a novelisation of ME1, and Out of the Dark, and In Progress novelisation of ME2.


End file.
